Today marks a momentous milestone for the wireless industry: the finalisation of the 3GPP Non-Standalone (NSA) 5G New Radio (NR) Standard. The formalisation of the NSA standard anchors the coming Standalone (SA) version and represents a remarkable step forward for the industry.

With NSA 5G NR, players across the ecosystem for the first time have rallied around a single internationally recognised specification for 5G radio systems. It provides the technological foundation for the industry to begin testing and commercialising the next generation of wireless services and devices, says Asha Keddy of Intel.

I’d like to congratulate the parties that contributed to the development of this standard, setting the foundation for an interoperable global marketplace ripe with economic opportunity and technological possibility. As I commented in the related news release, Intel participated in the process, working closely with mobile industry leaders to support the standard and accelerate the first NR trials.

Many of the early use cases will fall into the realms of enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB), the Internet of Things (IoT), as well as Vehicle-to-Everything Communications (V2X). Intel has already been innovating in many of these segments, conducting field trials with the Intel 5G Mobile Trial Platform (MTP) and the Intel GO 5G Automotive Platform. To prepare for the specification finalisation, we have to be two to three years ahead of the standards when it comes to gathering key learnings about use cases and their related performance requirements.

Intel is proud to have contributed to the development of NSA 5G NR with proprietary research, reference designs and insights from a range of trials. Intel’s many contributions spanned the specification, including coding, error correction, modulation, spatial sub-channelisation, beamforming, reference symbol designs, radio link adaptation and more. Intel also produced prototypes for use in the testing of pre-5G standards, including 5GTF.

Those system stacks were, in essence, the parents of NSA and SA 5G NR – providing evidence of what was possible and informing the standard’s specifications. During this process, we collaborated with industry innovators like Ericsson and Nokia, and leading operators like AT&T, Korea Telecom, NTT Docomo and Verizon.

We’ve rapidly evolved our MTP in lockstep with progress of the NR specification, preparing it for the finalisation of the standard. It’s NSA 5G NR-ready, giving equipment manufacturers the platform they need to test interoperability and operators the ability to simulate real-world use cases. Powered by high-performance Intel FPGAs and Intel® Core™ processors, the MTP will have a key role in informing the pending SA standard within Release 15 in June 2018.

We already have several NSA 5G NR trials lined up using the MTP alongside our 5G RFIC supporting sub-6 GHz and mmWave, and our 5G RFFE for operations in the 28 GHz and 39 GHz bands. The learnings from our interoperability testing and real-world trials are foundational for our first commercial NSA/SA 5G NR-capable multimode solutions, the Intel® XMM™ 8000 series modem, with customer devices expected in 2019. These solutions will support a variety of use cases, including PCs, mobile phones, fixed wireless CPE and even vehicles.

Of course, it’s important to remember that as momentous as this occasion is, it’s really just […]

International fleet management application provider, DRVR has selected Tata Communications as its global IoT connectivity partner to help achieve its objective of making Asia’s vehicle fleets the smartest and most cost-efficient in the world.

The advent of connected vehicles has led to an exponential increase in consumption and creation of human to machine interface applications and solutions. A Forrester report on the Internet of Things states that fleet management and its applications in transportation and logistics across retail and wholesale will be the hottest areas for IoT growth. The Asia Pacific automotive telematics market is expected to reach a value of US$ 15,248 million by 2020 at an estimated CAGR of 11.6% during the forecast period.

Vehicles in fleets using DRVR technology have been fitted with Tata Communications’ MOVE-IOT Connect™ SIM technology. The sensors transmit data collected in real-time using Tata Communications’ MOVE, which seamlessly connects services using the best available local cellular network. The DRVR application then processes and analyses this data, turning it into actionable intelligence further illustrating fleet performance metrics on any device, mobile or laptop.

This means that faster and better informed decisions can be made as fleet managers have a more holistic view of everything that is happening across the fleet, communicating updates in real time; on a highly secure infrastructure ultimately leading to more effective and robust operations on the ground.

David Henderson, co-founder and CEO, DRVR said: “Our partnership with Tata Communications enables us to overcome two major challenges in our quest to create smarter fleets across our entire geographical footprint. First, rather than negotiate multiple contracts with individual service providers, our entire international IoT network is managed through Tata Communications.

As a result, we get valuable visibility of data collected across borders so that we can realise the benefits of smarter fleet management. Second, it allows us a holistic view on a singular dashboard allowing us to respond with improved accuracy and eliminating downtime almost entirely.”

Tata Communications’ MOVE service will be rolled out to DRVR customers through its smart fleet management applications. Tata Communications MOVE is part of the company’s long-term strategy for its mobility services portfolio and its vision of creating an access and usage agnostic, cross-border mobile experience for people and things.

The platform is underpinned by Tata Communications’ global network and partnerships with several hundred mobile communications service providers globally. The service enables DRVR to roam across different service providers in any of its covered regions without having to negotiate agreements with multiple providers or pay extra fees.

The autonomous driving (AD) market in Japan experienced strong growth in 2016 with the first AD-Level 2 commercialised vehicle in the passenger car market. The Japanese automotive market is now declining in terms of new vehicle sales due to depopulation, demotorisation, as well as an aging society, especially in urban areas. As an alternative business strategy, many Japanese OEMs are trying to find new revenue streams with disruptive technologies and connected services. AD is one of the high potential technologies that could bring business innovation beyond automotive industries.

Frost & Sullivan’s new analysis, “Strategic Analysis of Automated Car Market in Japan, 2016,” finds that the unit shipment of automated vehicles at AD-level 2 in Japan is likely to grow up to 540,000 at a compound annual growth rate of 51.6% by 2025.

This research assesses the Japanese automated car market dynamics and related government policy, regulations, as well as the roadmap toward 2025. It also provides an overview of major OEM roadmaps for automated car development as well as potential emerging market participants and new growth opportunities.

Program updating of JNCAP (Japan New Car Assessment Program) and the revision of related laws will lead to the penetration of automated cars in Japan in the short term.

“The current assessment of automated energy brake for vulnerable road users for JNCAP only covers daytime. However, in 2018, the coverage of the assessment is expected to be expanded from daytime to nighttime to be in line with the change in EuroNCAP. This change in JNCAP will lead many vehicles by Japanese OEMs to shift from ADAS systems to AD systems during the next decade,” said Sarasa Hayashi, Frost & Sullivan Mobility research analyst.

In addition, the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics will be the trigger to grow the penetration of automated cars in Japan. The Japanese government recognises the Tokyo Olympics as the catalyst to boost AD systems beyond level 2 in Japan. Japanese OEMs have showcased AD technologies frequently, which increases consumers’ awareness for automated driving systems.

“New market participants, including AI or big data analytics companies, will take more important roles in the future development of automated vehicles,” said Sarasa Hayashi. “DeNA and SB Drive are key companies to watch as they disrupt the current ecosystem in the automotive industry in Japan through joint venture business and collaborative research related to automated driving technology.”

However, a lot of challenges, such as the lack of infrastructure for supporting AD, regulations for high AD-level cars, and standardisation for AD capabilities and HMI systems, need to be addressed to grow an automated car market in Japan.

“Automakers should partner with non-automotive industry participants beyond the conventional component suppliers in their group companies to commercialise advanced automated driving technologies,” said Sarasa Hayashi. “More crossed alliance across automotive OEMs, component suppliers, and tech companies will be a key for success in automated driving development.”

Strategic Analysis of Automated Car Market in Japan, 2016 is part of Frost & Sullivan’s Future of Mobility Growth Partnership Service program.

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Syed Zaeem “Z” Hosain, a founder and the chief technical officer at Aeris, was named the new chairman of the IoT M2M Council by the trade association’s Board of Governors at their annual meeting, held in November in Boston. With more than 25,000 members worldwide, covering 24 different vertical-market sectors, the IMC is the largest and fastest-growing trade organisation serving the IoT industry.

Hosain has been with Aeris – a technology provider in IoT – since 1996, when the company was founded, and has more than 38 years of experience in the semiconductor, telecommunications and computer industries. He has held leadership positions for several industry associations and technical standards bodies, and is the author of the book, “The Definitive Guide: The Internet of Things for Business.”

“By reaching out to buyers of IoT technology on such a large scale, the IMC can provide solutions providers with a natural platform to promote their products and services, and also learn about enterprise users and OEMs that are deploying the technology. For example, we have data that show a plurality of them self-identify as ‘operations’ – not ‘IT’ or ‘R&D’ – and now we’re digging deeper, and tracking if there are movements in these categories,” said Hosain.

To cultivate interaction between buyers and sellers in the IoT sector, the IMC has recently introduced a number of new programs, including a software widget survey-tool that tests a user’s readiness for IoT deployments and a template RFP program for its members that are interested in sourcing IoT software platforms.

The group has also been named as the exclusive organiser of the Consumer Electronics Show’s (CES) new area dedicated to IoT infrastructure – more than 6,500 square feet of exhibition space already has been booked for the January 2018 event to take place in Las Vegas.

“This is the first time CES will host a dedicated IoT area of this kind, and it’s a major achievement for the IMC. Our IMC mission is about bringing buyers and sellers together, and CES attracts tens of thousands of OEMs from markets that are crucial to the IoT,” said Hosain.

Silicon Labs, a semiconductor company that manufactures products for the Internet of Things, Internet infrastructure, and industrial automation use cases announced last week that it will acquire Sigma Designs for a cash transaction valued at approximately $282M.

In case Sigma fails to meet certain financial conditions, the deal will still go ahead as planned for a reduced amount of $240M.

The deal is based on Sigma’s per share price of $7.05, a 26 percent premium over Sigma Designs’ closing price of $5.60 per share on Dec. 6, 2017. Sigma Designs is a smart home company that provides Z-Wave, a leading Internet of Things (IoT) technology for smart home solutions.

The acquisition of Sigma Designs will help Silicon Labs to expand its offerings in the smart home wireless connectivity market. “The connected home represents one of the largest market opportunities in the IoT. Today, there is no single dominant wireless technology for home automation, and protocols include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth®, Zigbee®, Thread, and proprietary,” said Tyson Tuttle, CEO of Silicon Labs. Additionally, the deal will allow Sigma to expand into Smart TV market.

According to a new research report from the IoT analyst firm Berg Insight, the number of insurance telematics policies in force on the European market reached 6.8 million in Q4-2016. Growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 34.8%, this number is expected to reach 30.0 million by 2021. In North America, the number of insurance telematics policies in force is expected to grow at a CAGR of 38.2% from 6.9 million in Q4-2016 to reach 35.2 million in 2021.

The European insurance telematics market is largely dominated by hardwired aftermarket black boxes while self-install OBD devices represent the vast majority of the active policies in North America. Several major US insurers have however recently shifted to solutions based on smartphones. Berg Insight expects a rapid increase in the uptake of smartphone-based solutions in all markets in the upcoming years.

“The US, Italy, the UK and Canada are still the largest markets in terms of insurance telematics policies”, said Martin Svegander, M2M/IoT analyst at Berg Insight. In North America, the market is dominated by US-based Progressive, Allstate, Liberty Mutual and State Farm as well as Intact Financial Corporation and Desjardins in Canada.

The Italian insurers UnipolSai and Generali together accounted for around 50% of the telematics-enabled policies in Europe. Insurers with a strong adoption of telematics-enabled policies in the UK moreover include Admiral Group, Insure The Box and Direct Line. Several insurers in the rest of Europe have also shown a substantial uptake of telematics in 2016–2017.

“Insurers are increasingly expected to embrace every aspect of telematics to reduce the cost of claims, improve the underwriting process and add services to increase the customer value through differentiated telematics offerings”, continued Mr. Svegander.

He added that several attempts to reduce distracted driving and increase consumer engagement using smartphone-based insurance telematics have been seen in both Europe and North America. “Consumer engagement is now the focus for most insurance telematics programmes and will continue to be an important topic in the near term”, concluded Svegander.

The insurance telematics value chain spans multiple industries including a large ecosystem of companies extending far beyond the insurance industry players. Automotive OEMs are showing an increasing interest in insurance telematics. Examples include General Motors, Ford, BMW, Daimler, PSA Group and Fiat. The vehicle manufacturers are expected to drive the long-term development of insurance telematics by offering the possibility to utilise connected car OEM data in pay-how-you-drive offers.

Notable aftermarket telematics service providers with a focus on insurance telematics include Octo Telematics with over 5.3 million active devices in Q4-2017 and other end-to-end solution providers such as Vodafone Automotive and Viasat Group. LexisNexis Risk Solutions, Intelligent Mechatronic Systems, Cambridge Mobile Telematics, Modus, The Floow, Scope Technologies and TrueMotion are also important players on the insurance telematics market.

Download the report brochure here: Insurance Telematics in Europe and North America.

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